Sketches out a succession of motion picture practices before 1910, focusing on the integration of two the stereopticon and cinema as a distinct dispositif between 1897 and 1903. The 1900 presidential ...
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Sketches out a succession of motion picture practices before 1910, focusing on the integration of two the stereopticon and cinema as a distinct dispositif between 1897 and 1903. The 1900 presidential campaign fell squarely within this time frame. The deployment of emergent media such as the motion pictures and the phonograph are explored, as the election’s paramount issue was Imperialism. McKinley and his running mate Theodore Roosevelt were advocates of American expansionism while William Jennings Bryan ran on an anti-imperialism platform. Illustrated lectures that celebrated US military interventions in Cuba and the Philippines were widely deployed and often presented by military personnel and preachers. They contributed to McKinley’s victory while Bryan supporters failed to make use of this media form.Less

Cinema as a Media Form

Charles Musser

Published in print: 2016-09-13

Sketches out a succession of motion picture practices before 1910, focusing on the integration of two the stereopticon and cinema as a distinct dispositif between 1897 and 1903. The 1900 presidential campaign fell squarely within this time frame. The deployment of emergent media such as the motion pictures and the phonograph are explored, as the election’s paramount issue was Imperialism. McKinley and his running mate Theodore Roosevelt were advocates of American expansionism while William Jennings Bryan ran on an anti-imperialism platform. Illustrated lectures that celebrated US military interventions in Cuba and the Philippines were widely deployed and often presented by military personnel and preachers. They contributed to McKinley’s victory while Bryan supporters failed to make use of this media form.

Investigates the history of the stereopticon as a radically modernized magic lantern and its place in a larger US media formation. Using random word searches, its arch of popularity is traced from ...
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Investigates the history of the stereopticon as a radically modernized magic lantern and its place in a larger US media formation. Using random word searches, its arch of popularity is traced from the 1860s to an 1890s apex, followed by a gradual decline. The coincidence of its emergence with the term “illustrated lecture” is noted, pointing towards the initial formation of the documentary tradition. Circa 1850 the Frederick and William Langenheim developed the photographic glass slide: a key element of the stereopticon dispositif. Ten years later John Fallon introduced the stereopticon as a form of screen entertainment. In 1871, the stereopticon began to be used for outdoor advertising; soon after it was used to promote candidates and issues.Less

The Stereopticon: Platform or New Media Form?

Charles Musser

Published in print: 2016-09-13

Investigates the history of the stereopticon as a radically modernized magic lantern and its place in a larger US media formation. Using random word searches, its arch of popularity is traced from the 1860s to an 1890s apex, followed by a gradual decline. The coincidence of its emergence with the term “illustrated lecture” is noted, pointing towards the initial formation of the documentary tradition. Circa 1850 the Frederick and William Langenheim developed the photographic glass slide: a key element of the stereopticon dispositif. Ten years later John Fallon introduced the stereopticon as a form of screen entertainment. In 1871, the stereopticon began to be used for outdoor advertising; soon after it was used to promote candidates and issues.

Politicking and Emergent Media looks at four presidential campaigns in the United States during the long 1890s (1888-1900) and the ways in which Republicans and Democrats mobilized a wide variety of ...
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Politicking and Emergent Media looks at four presidential campaigns in the United States during the long 1890s (1888-1900) and the ways in which Republicans and Democrats mobilized a wide variety of media forms in their efforts to achieve electoral victory. The 1890s was a pivotal era in which new means of audio and visual inscription were first deployed. Newspapers remained the dominant media, and Democrats had gained sufficient advantage in 1884 to put Grover Cleveland in the White House. In 1888 Republicans responded by strengthening their media arm with a variety of tactics, using the stereopticon, a modernized magic lantern, to deliver popular illustrated lectures on the protective tariff which helped Republican candidate Benjamin Harrison defeat Cleveland--though Harrison lost the rematch four years later. Efforts to regain a media advantage continued in 1896 as Republicans embraced motion pictures, the phonograph and telephone to further William McKinley’s campaign for president. When the traditionally Democratic press rejected “Free Silver” candidate William Jennings Bryan, McKinley’s victory was assured. As the United States became a world power in the aftermath of the Spanish-American War, audio-visual media promoted American Imperialism, the “paramount issue” of the 1900 election, as McKinley won a second term.Less

Politicking and Emergent Media : US Presidential Elections of the 1890s

Charles Musser

Published in print: 2016-09-13

Politicking and Emergent Media looks at four presidential campaigns in the United States during the long 1890s (1888-1900) and the ways in which Republicans and Democrats mobilized a wide variety of media forms in their efforts to achieve electoral victory. The 1890s was a pivotal era in which new means of audio and visual inscription were first deployed. Newspapers remained the dominant media, and Democrats had gained sufficient advantage in 1884 to put Grover Cleveland in the White House. In 1888 Republicans responded by strengthening their media arm with a variety of tactics, using the stereopticon, a modernized magic lantern, to deliver popular illustrated lectures on the protective tariff which helped Republican candidate Benjamin Harrison defeat Cleveland--though Harrison lost the rematch four years later. Efforts to regain a media advantage continued in 1896 as Republicans embraced motion pictures, the phonograph and telephone to further William McKinley’s campaign for president. When the traditionally Democratic press rejected “Free Silver” candidate William Jennings Bryan, McKinley’s victory was assured. As the United States became a world power in the aftermath of the Spanish-American War, audio-visual media promoted American Imperialism, the “paramount issue” of the 1900 election, as McKinley won a second term.

Examines the 1888 and 1892 presidential campaigns that pitted Republican Benjamin Harrison, who favored a protective tariff, against Democrat Grover Cleveland, who wanted to lower taxes on imports. ...
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Examines the 1888 and 1892 presidential campaigns that pitted Republican Benjamin Harrison, who favored a protective tariff, against Democrat Grover Cleveland, who wanted to lower taxes on imports. The New York press was predominantly Democratic, which enabled Cleveland to win the 1884 election. The pro-Republican Protective Tariff League sponsored Judge John L. Wheeler’s wildly popular stereopticon lecture The Tariff Illustrated in 1888x, which was hailed as contributing to Harrison’s victory (a brief recession and Tammany Hall’s hostility to Cleveland were additional factors). In 1892 Republicans nominated New York Tribune publisher Whitelaw Reid as vice-president and had six orators who toured the Northeast, delivering illustrated lectures and promoting the protective tariff. Nevertheless, Cleveland proved victorious in the rematch.Less

The Stereopticon, The Tariff Illustrated, and the 1892 Election

Charles Musser

Published in print: 2016-09-13

Examines the 1888 and 1892 presidential campaigns that pitted Republican Benjamin Harrison, who favored a protective tariff, against Democrat Grover Cleveland, who wanted to lower taxes on imports. The New York press was predominantly Democratic, which enabled Cleveland to win the 1884 election. The pro-Republican Protective Tariff League sponsored Judge John L. Wheeler’s wildly popular stereopticon lecture The Tariff Illustrated in 1888x, which was hailed as contributing to Harrison’s victory (a brief recession and Tammany Hall’s hostility to Cleveland were additional factors). In 1892 Republicans nominated New York Tribune publisher Whitelaw Reid as vice-president and had six orators who toured the Northeast, delivering illustrated lectures and promoting the protective tariff. Nevertheless, Cleveland proved victorious in the rematch.

Chapter 2 expands on the idea of the Chicago Exposition as ‘the cheapest and most exhaustive journey over the earth that was ever made’, reflecting on cinema's capacity to serve as a vehicle for ...
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Chapter 2 expands on the idea of the Chicago Exposition as ‘the cheapest and most exhaustive journey over the earth that was ever made’, reflecting on cinema's capacity to serve as a vehicle for mobility, travel, and tourism. Associations between cinema and travel were widespread: actualities and travelogues revealed far away sights to Americans at home, while the sensation of travel was incorporated into film technology itself. This chapter examines how modes of entertainment ranging from illustrated lectures to phantom rides were foundational to later documentary approaches. These forms of virtual travel, ‘possessing the world’ in images, also fed into national and imperial consciousness. Establishing a spectatorial relationship to sights and scenes ‘over there’, these films helped to define a sense of ‘us’ and ‘here’. The chapter includes a close reading of Nanook of the North.Less

Virtual Travels and the Tourist Gaze

Jeffrey Geiger

Published in print: 2011-06-29

Chapter 2 expands on the idea of the Chicago Exposition as ‘the cheapest and most exhaustive journey over the earth that was ever made’, reflecting on cinema's capacity to serve as a vehicle for mobility, travel, and tourism. Associations between cinema and travel were widespread: actualities and travelogues revealed far away sights to Americans at home, while the sensation of travel was incorporated into film technology itself. This chapter examines how modes of entertainment ranging from illustrated lectures to phantom rides were foundational to later documentary approaches. These forms of virtual travel, ‘possessing the world’ in images, also fed into national and imperial consciousness. Establishing a spectatorial relationship to sights and scenes ‘over there’, these films helped to define a sense of ‘us’ and ‘here’. The chapter includes a close reading of Nanook of the North.